Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.


The dwarves all began mounting their respective ponies, but at seeing Magnolia's hesitance, Fili picked her up around the waist and set her in Dandy's saddle, before mounting his own pony. He showed her how to urge Dandy forward, and how to make him stop. Magnolia grew surprisingly comfortable, surprisingly quickly with the help of the golden haired dwarf.

As the Company rode, Magnolia spent much of her time lost in thought. She was thinking about how strange it was that she, a hobbit-lass who had only reached her majority scarcely a year prior, going off with thirteen dwarves on an adventure. For all that her mother was a cousin to the Tooks, Magnolia thought that somehow, her mother would not be at all pleased at her daughter's decision. But then, there were probably a great many things her mother would not have been pleased about in Magnolia's life.

After the Company had been riding for quite some time, Magnolia heard several of the dwarves griping about the uselessness of the stop, since they still didn't have a burglar. A few wagers were being taken on whether Mister Bilbo would accompany them, and the dwarves' doubt in her friend rankled Magnolia. Yes, the dwarves had shown her a great deal of kindness in the few hours since she'd met them, but Mister Bilbo had been kind to her since before her mother fell ill.

"Mister Bilbo will come, you'll see! I know him better than you do, and I think he was interested in the prospect of an adventure," Magnolia called out, loudly. She startled several of the dwarves at the vehemence and volume of her assertion, and Magnolia flinched and cast her eyes down at the ground passing beneath her pony's hooves at her boldness to speak so loudly. She was about to mumble an apology for speaking out of turn, when Bilbo came running over a hill, his signed contract streaming behind him like a kite.

"Wait! WAIT!" Bilbo called out, getting the dwarves' attention. They all reined their ponies to a stop to wait for the hobbit-man. "I've signed it! See, I've signed it," he said when he reached the group, gasping for breath after his mad dash through the Shire. Magnolia smiled at her friend as he passed the signed contract to Balin for inspection, very glad that he had decided to come along after all.

"Very good, everything seems to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the Company of Thorin Oakenshield!" Balin said, folding up Bilbo's contract.

"Someone get him a pony," Thorin ordered, nudging his own mount forward.

"A pony? Oh, that's not necessary, I've taken my fair share of walking holidays, even made it as far as Frogmorton once!" Bilbo sputtered nervously. Just then, two pairs of hands grabbed him under the arms and lifted him onto a pony, this one a shaggy brown like most of the others.

"Don't worry, Mister Bilbo. You'll get used to the riding soon. These dwarves are quite helpful when it comes to teaching hobbits how to ride ponies," Magnolia said as Dandy moved up the line to walk next to Bilbo's pony, a mare by the name of Myrtle. Before Bilbo could really answer though, he began sneezing violently.

"Oh, it's the horse hair. I seem to be having a reaction," he said when curious gazes looked to see what the excess noise was. He patted all of his pockets looking for something, but when he couldn't find it he tried calling the column of riders to a stop.

"Stop, stop! We've got to go back! I've forgotten my handkerchief!" he cried.

"Don't worry, Mister Bilbo. I have one you can use," Magnolia said before she rummaged in her knapsack, finally drawing out a clean linen handkerchief, which she passed to Bilbo.

"Thank you very much, my dear," the older hobbit said.


The Company rode on for several more hours, until the sun hung low in the sky, before Thorin called them to a halt, ordering the dwarves to set up camp. Everyone immediately dismounted, leaving Fili and Kili to tend to the ponies. Oin and Gloin started working on a fire, sending Ori off to get wood. Dwalin, Balin, and Thorin devised a watch schedule and Bofur and Bombur began to prepare dinner using a few of the rations in the dwarves' packs. Nori and Dori went off in search of water, finding it easily when they stumbled across a small stream of clean water. This hive of organized activity left Bilbo and Magnolia feeling utterly useless, as they stood near the edges of the campsite and watched the dwarves.

After dinner, Magnolia gathered the dirty dishes and took them to the stream Nori and Ori had found. She found herself escorted there by Fili, who helped her carry the sixteen wooden bowls the Company had used. Fili told Magnolia stories from his childhood, like the time he had gotten his hand stuck in the cookie jar getting treats for himself and Kili. Magnolia was content to just listen to Fili tell stories, but he did eventually ask her about her own childhood. Magnolia grew very quiet, the only sound was the quiet burbling of the stream, when she smiled and recounted to the dwarf about the first time her mother had taught her how to cook her special soup.

When the two were ready to head back to the camp, Magnolia saw a willow tree nearby.

"Mister Fili, could I trouble you to cut a few of those willow branches for me? I need the most flexible ones," she asked tentatively.

"Certainly, how many do you need?" he answered, walking over to the willow and examining the branches, occasionally cutting them at the length that Magnolia indicated.

"Around fifty would be best, thank you."

"May I ask what you need so many branches for?"

"It will become clear when we make it back to camp, but I will say that I won't be a burden," Magnolia said, a bit of mischief in her tone.

"Very well, keep your secrets!" Fili teased, gathering up the branches he had cut. The two then began their walk back to the camp.

When they returned, Magnolia passed the clean bowls to Bofur to store until morning. Taking the willow branches from Fili, Magnolia sat herself down in an open area and her fingers began moving quickly, weaving the branches together.

"What're you doin' there, lass?" Bofur asked, watching her hands move with the willow.

"I'm weaving a basket. I've noticed several different kinds of edible plants and things that we could add to a stew, and anything I pick up would be more easily carried in a basket," she answered, fingers still twisting branches. She had not even paused in her weaving to speak to Bofur. All of the dwarves were watching her now, startled at how deftly her small fingers worked. Slowly, the basket began to take shape, with a small base, but deep sides. When the body of the basket was completed, Magnolia used the remaining branches, as well as a bit of cloth she discreetly ripped from her blanket to fashion a handle which would allow the basket to rest on her hip, the strap crossing her body like a bandolier.

While Magnolia worked, the night quickly grew chilled. It was only late April, and while the days were warm, the nights were not, and Magnolia shivered, shifting closer to the fire. The dwarves were occupied telling stories and smoking their pipes, but the intimidating bald dwarf Dwalin noticed Magnolia wrapping her blanket more tightly around herself and still trembling with the cold.

"I wonder," he said loudly, "how it is this hobbit-lass brought handkerchiefs to spare, but she forgot a cloak!" The others turned to look at Magnolia, who looked at the ground beneath her feet and curled even more tightly in on herself, as though she were trying to be as small as possible.

"I don't have a cloak, sir. I brought with me everything I own, and most of those items are trinkets my mother gave me. I could not bear to leave my belongings with my family," she said quietly, still looking at her feet. As such, she missed the sad looks the male members of the Company passed around. Ori quickly crossed the camp to his bedroll and withdrew a knitted sweater from his pack.

"Here, Miss Magnolia. I hope this helps," he said, passing her the sweater. The next dwarf to move was Balin, who gave her a small camping pillow from his pack, and Bofur contributed a warm blanket from his own bedroll, handing it to her with a wink. Looking up, she saw the dwarf with the axe in his head, Bifur, pull a whittling knife from his belt and start carving up a block of redwood muttering something intelligible only to the dwarves, who smiled at their comrade. When Magnolia asked what he had said, his cousin, Bombur, answered.

"He said that he wants to make something that will make you smile. He said that you have a very nice smile, and that you should be happier," the fat dwarf said, smiling himself. Magnolia blushed at the dwarf's words, unsure how to respond.

Oin and Gloin were arguing about what they should give her before they eventually decided that a small purse of coins would be the most useful thing. When Gloin tried to hand it to Magnolia though, she refused, saying that the dwarves had all been terribly kind, but that she wouldn't feel right accepting money from them.

"I insist, lass. You never know, we might pass through a town, and you'd be in charge of purchasing your own supplies. What would you do, steal them?" he said, pressing the purse into her hands. She thanked him quietly, before raising her voice ever so slightly and thanking the others for their kindness.

Fili was thinking hard about what he could donate, when he felt a sharp elbow in his ribs. He turned to glare at his brother, but the younger dwarf just made a sign with his hands, which gave Fili an idea.

"Miss Magnolia, I am at a loss for how I can help. For now, though, I hope you will allow me to lend you some of my own warmth," he said, moving to sit very close next to her. She stiffened at how closely he sat, their bodies practically touching all down their sides. However, when she saw that there were other members of the Company sitting just as closely with each other she relaxed a bit. Magnolia could feel the heat pouring off Fili, it seemed to rival the camp's fire, and she was grateful for his warmth.

"Thank you for everything. Truly, you have all shown me, a stranger, more kindness than anyone except Mister Bilbo had shown me in years," she said, voice barely loud enough to be heard. An awkward silence descended on the camp, until Bofur decided to break it by singing a funny song. Several of the others joined in, and when the song was finished, a story was told that had the whole Company laughing, although Bilbo and Magnolia were both blushing deeply red. This pattern repeated for some time, Bilbo occasionally contributing a story or joke, when Kili turned to Magnolia.

"Miss Magnolia, you've not said anything in a very long time. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we would like to hear one of your stories, or a song. Will you please sing a song from the Shire?" he asked. Magnolia was startled at the request and had to think for several moments, brows furrowed as she wracked her memory for an appropriate song or a story she could tell.

"I cannot think of a song right now, but I can recite a poem for you, if that is acceptable?" she asks. The dwarves eagerly respond in the affirmative. "This is a poem my brothers used to scare me with as children, giving me horrific nightmares, but it stopped scaring me when I realized they were more afraid of it than I was. Whenever they were particularly horrid to me I always got my revenge courtesy of this poem. We'll see if you agree with my brothers," she said, with a small smirk. Several of the dwarves bristled at their implied cowardice, challenging her to do her worst. The mischief in her smirk grew as she leaned forward to begin her recitation.

"The Shadows where the Mewlips dwell

Are dark and wet as ink,

And slow and softly rings their bell,

As in the slime you sink.

You sink into the slime, who dare

To knock upon their door,

While down the grinning gargoyles stare

And noisome waters pour.

Beside the rotting river-strand

The drooping willows weep,

And gloomily the gorcrows stand

Croaking in their sleep.

Over the Merlock Mountains a long and weary way,

In a mouldy valley where the trees are grey,

By a dark pool's borders without wind or tide,

Moonless and sunless, the Mewlips hide.

Magnolia paused in her recitation for effect, watching her audience carefully.

The cellars where the Mewlips sit

Are deep and dank and cold

With single sickly candle lit;

And there they count their gold.

Their walls are wet, their ceilings drip;

Their feet upon the floor

Go softly with a squish-flap-flip,

As they sidle to the door.

They peep out slyly; through a crack

Their feeling fingers creep,

And when they've finished, in a sack

Your bones they take to keep.

Beyond the Merlock Mountains, a long and lonely road,

Through the spider-shadows and the Marsh of Tode,

And through the wood of hanging trees and the gallows-weed,

You go to find the Mewlips - and the Mewlips feed."

Upon finishing the poem, Magnolia maintained her dark look as she looked at each dwarf in turn, pleased to note that many of them, including the intimidating warriors Dwalin and Gloin looked distinctly nervous. She had always been good at recitations like that, pausing in just the right places, changing her voice to fit the tone of the poem, she knew how to ensnare her audience. After a few more tense moments, Magnolia smiled more brightly at the dwarves then they had yet seen, and laughed at their faces. The dwarves, for their part, took her laughter for the teasing it was meant, laughing along with her.

"Aye, I can well see how your brothers might be frightened of that poem. What is a 'mewlip', by the way?" Bofur asked. Magnolia and Bilbo, who was also quite familiar with the piece, simply shrugged.

"Regardless of what a mewlip might be, it is late and we leave early. Try to get some sleep everyone," Thorin said, before going to the appointed watch post for his shift. The Company all returned to their bedrolls they had laid out earlier, but Fili grabbed his belongings and moved them from their position near Kili's to a spot closer to Magnolia.

"I promised I would lend you my warmth, I cannot very well do that clear over there," he explained. Magnolia was about to protest his proximity to her while she slept, but she saw Ori nestled between his brothers, Bifur sandwiched between his cousins, Dwalin and Balin were curled around each other, indeed, it seemed only Gandalf and Bilbo slept separately, because Kili had moved his bedroll closer to Thorin's. Seeing all of this, she nodded shyly, allowing Fili to set his bedroll down next to hers. She quickly arranged all the gifts that the dwarves had given her before lying down. She was unused to traveling, so she was very tired and she quickly fell into a deep sleep, oblivious to the snores of her companions.

Author's Note: The poem Magnolia recites is called "The Mewlips" and it was written by Prof. Tolkien. It can be found in the book The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

So, here's my thinking about the dwarves. Yes, they are all very protective of Magnolia, but a lot of that stems from the fact that dwarf-women are rare, so for the dwarves to see a woman being treated badly, rather than treasured and protected, it's shocking and appalling to them. Fili though, feels a stronger drive or need to make sure Magnolia is taken care of, and the reasoning for that will become apparent as the story progresses.

Don't forget to read and review!